CRM Software for Government Agencies

Government agencies use CRM tools for many of the same reasons enterprises do: they need to keep track of data and keep customers (or in this case, constituents) happy. Just like successful businesses, government agencies need to keep track of customers’ history with the agency, vendor relationship, supplier resources, and other agency–specific information. Government agencies also have the responsibility of complying with federal rules and regulations and maintaining transparency. Government agencies often choose Software–as–a–Service (SaaS) and cloud–based government CRM solutions because they’re cheaper and easier to employ and interface well with current agency tools.

Why does Government have Different CRM Needs?

Government CRM needs differ from those of businesses in that they must serve the general public at large and not just high–paying customers. Government and public sector agencies need to serve everyone, and they don’t have the luxury of overlooking disgruntled constituents. Not only that, they have to be accountable. Government agencies are also businesses with strict budgets and big bosses. Government agencies must be able to easily interface with other agencies, including local, state, and federal systems. A CRM tool needs to be able to adequately integrate with existing government systems and enhance them.

Government processes such as permitting and licensing benefit from a good CRM tool because approval times are shortened and many steps of the process can be self–service. Government agencies have the extra responsibility of maintaining strong relationships with constituents, partners, recruits, lawmakers, and other government agencies. Local government CRM software must also maintain internal memory and provide public access to data records. This requires extra security, memory, and user–friendly interfaces. Government CRM systems must have a high degree of interoperability to maintain efficiency across agencies.

What Customer Relationship Functionalities are Important to Government?

Since government agencies have to serve the public as well as other government agencies, there are functionalities important to them. Government administration organizations must often adhere to strict technology budgets so citizen relationship management solutions for government must provide cost–efficient service. Public sector agencies must also be available to serve the public at all times, and CRM solutions can provide this needed online presence.

Additionally, whether the government agency keeps track of property taxes or Medicaid claims, document management is a key concern. Document management, accessibility, and security present unique, high–priority challenges for government agencies, and a government CRM system must meet needs in these fields. Government CRM must maintain a certain transparency for constituents, stay on budget, and be available all of the time, but must also keep data secure.

3 Ways to know your Government Agency is ready for a CRM Solution

If your government agency is ready to streamline processes and find ways to cut costs, a CRM for government can help you get on the right track. Using government CRM agencies can offer their “customers” many options that weren’t possible before. A CRM solution could help your business if you need to:

1. Analyze:
How are your existing tools, processes, and strategies serving your constituents? Do you have online tools that allow people to pay or donate online? Do you have a way users can give you their feedback including a way to register complaints? Your organization may need a CRM tool if you need this level of analysis.

2. Produce:
If the public can’t get what they need from you when you need it, your productivity is lacking. You also need help if you can’t easily interface with other government agencies. CRM for government tools can also increase your productivity by automating tasks like updating databases, keeping track of budgets, and prioritizing tasks, and you may be ready to start using these tools if these tasks present time or budgetary challenges.

3. Improve
If your current workflow processes are disorganized or too time consuming, a CRM for government solution can help you by finding ways to improve your services, such as by automating tasks or providing more self–service tools for the public. A CRM solution will also improve your processes by providing a system that can be used by partner agencies, so you should consider yourself ready for a CRM service if you work with other agencies on a regular basis.

How Prophet Can Help Government Succeed

A CRM tool like Prophet can not only improve your processes and relationships with the people you serve, it can also automate, preserve, and manage your data and services. Prophet can help you manage important decisions and contacts within your system by providing a daily list of tasks and putting all contact information in one place. Since a common functionality government agencies need to serve the public sector is transparency and integrity of data, Prophet can help you preserve critical data with automatic back–ups, encryption tools, and cloud–based security. Prophet helps you manage your relationship with constituents but also with other agencies that serve the public sector and whose resources on which you depend.

Prophet CRM is seamlessly integrated with Microsoft Outlook.

Participate in a demo personalized to your needs with our CRM experts. We will provide you with valuable resources, tips and tricks for Outlook, in addition to an overview of how Prophet will organize, accelerate & automate your sales team and processes.